Egypt has made significant institutional progress in fostering a culture of patient safety and protecting medical staff, Health and Population Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said on Sunday.
Speaking at an event marking World Patient Safety Day, Abdel Ghaffar said patient safety had become a global priority for healthcare systems, highlighting unprecedented presidential support for the health sector.
Egypt has achieved major international milestones, including World Health Organisation (WHO) certification for eliminating malaria and trachoma, while retaining its gold-level status for eliminating hepatitis C, he said.
The minister also stressed that the main challenge was to sustain these achievements through regular screening of couples preparing for marriage, school and university students, and job applicants.
The ministry has taken significant institutional steps to protect patients, including enacting the Medical Liability and Patient Safety Law, establishing a General Department for Patient Safety under its new organisational structure, and forming a higher committee to improve healthcare quality and patient safety, he noted.
In addition, the ministry has launched the National Strategy for Quality and Patient Safety (2026–2030) and prepared its first comprehensive report, covering 2025, to establish a baseline for measuring performance and guiding improvements.
Abdel Ghaffar stressed the importance of introducing a nationwide, secure system for reporting adverse events and medical errors to promote institutional learning without fear of punishment. He also highlighted the launch of a specialised professional diploma in patient safety in co-operation with the WHO. The first cohort comprises 70 doctors who will help promote this culture in hospitals.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Taha, head of the General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation (GAHAR), said genuine change had begun with the implementation of directives from the political leadership to provide comprehensive, high-quality healthcare.
Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din, the President’s Adviser for Health and Prevention Affairs, said patient safety was a strategic objective and a firmly established humanitarian mission.
Healthcare safety could no longer be measured solely by the number of hospital beds and facilities, but by the health system’s ability to achieve the best possible outcomes in a completely safe environment, he explained.
Patient safety could not be separated from the safety of medical teams, Tag El-Din noted, citing the sacrifices made by doctors and nurses during epidemics, particularly the Covid-19 pandemic.
For her part, Sadna Bhagwat, the WHO representative in Egypt, lauded the establishment of GAHAR as a turning point that placed healthcare quality and patient safety at the heart of a people-centred health system.
Bhagwat also commended Egypt’s tangible progress in transforming its healthcare system through the Universal Health Insurance System, whose legislation places quality and safety standards at its core.
